Science | The Guardian

For decades, the absolute priority when rescuing victims after traffic accidents has been to minimise movement of the spine. Emergency services go to great lengths to keep the patient still while they are cut free from the wreckage, because a shift of just a millimetre could potentially lead to the person needing to use a wheelchair. Or at least, that’s what firefighters used to think. Now, thanks to new research using simulated accident rescues, that wisdom is starting to change.Anand Jagatia speaks to the Guardian’s science correspondent, Linda Geddes, and emergency medicine consultant Dr Tim Nutbeam about the findings, and what they mean for survivors of motor vehicle collisions. Continue reading...

Scientists say there are ample reasons to suspect global heating could lead to catastropheThe risk of global societal collapse or human extinction has been “dangerously underexplored”, climate scientists have warned in an analysis.They call such a catastrophe the “climate endgame”. Though it had a small chance of occurring, given the uncertainties in future emissions and the climate system, cataclysmic scenarios could not be ruled out, they said. Continue reading...

Some in space industry bewildered by Australia’s lack of fanfare about the launch of the satellites, which will be used to collect intelligence for allied nations

Astrophysicist Brad Tucker says he often gets calls from people who think they’ve found space junk but the scorched metal found by two farmers is ‘very real’

Analysis: Reflecting a recent trend, 29 June was the shortest day on our planet since the 1960s. What’s going on?If time feels tighter than ever of late, blame it on the revolution. On 29 June this year, Earth racked up an unusual record: its shortest day since the 1960s, when scientists began measuring the planet’s rotation with high-precision atomic clocks.Broadly speaking, Earth completes one full turn on its axis every 24 hours. That single spin marks out a day and drives the cycle of sunrise and sunset that has shaped patterns of life for billions of years. But the curtains fell early on 29 June, with midnight arriving 1.59 milliseconds sooner than expected. Continue reading...

Fears of future threats to food security if more extreme heat caused by climate crisis hits productionThe UK heatwave has caused fruit and vegetables to die on the vine as growers fear the drought and further hot temperatures could ruin harvests this year.Fruit and vegetable suppliers have been counting their losses after record temperatures in July caused crops to fail. Continue reading...

TV forecasters have been targeted by climate deniers during recent extreme temperaturesDiscussing the weather has long been a harmless British pastime, with forecasters relied on to ruin bank holidays with their predictions of drizzle or give good news of some gentle summer sunshine.But now TV meteorologists have found themselves on the frontline of the climate culture war after extreme temperatures hit England last month, with records smashed and highs of 40.3C (104.5F). Continue reading...

Seventh planet technically visible as pale blue dot with help of binocularsIt is a tale of two planets this week: Mars and Uranus. While Mars, the fourth planet of the solar system, will be relatively easy to see with the unaided eye, the seventh planet, Uranus, will be almost impossible unless you live somewhere with pristine skies and no light pollution.So, if you have a pair of binoculars, take those with you as that will help ensure success in tracking down this planet that is technically visible to the naked eye but hardly ever seen that way. Continue reading...

A Chinese booster rocket has made an uncontrolled return to Earth. US defence department officials have chided Beijing for not sharing information on the potentially hazardous object’s descent. The Long March 5B rocket re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian ocean on Saturday. People in several parts of Malaysia reported seeing the fragments. 'At first we thought it was a shooting star,' said Aizul Sidek, who was in the city of Kuching in Sarawak state when he captured footage with his smartphone

Scientists think we need to pay attention to a measure of heat and humidity – and it’s edging closer to the limits of human survivabilityIn March, April and May this year, India and its neighbours endured repeated heatwaves that exposed more than a billion people to dangerously hot conditions. India broke several temperature records. The warmest March in more than a century was recorded across the country and a new high of more than 49C was hit in Delhi in May.Record-breaking heat has also been recorded elsewhere this year, including the UK, which smashed its previous record by an incredible 1.6C, reaching more than 40C. Portugal reached 47C on the 21st of this month, the hottest July day on record, while several places in France recorded new highs. Continue reading...

Screening programme will detect people with the deadly infection, which is often symptomless in early stagesThe NHS is to use artificial intelligence to detect, screen and treat people at risk of hepatitis C under plans to eradicate the disease by 2030.Hepatitis C often does not have any noticeable symptoms until the liver has been severely damaged, which means thousands of people are living with the infection – known as the silent killer – without realising it. Continue reading...

We both loved music growing up but when he sent me his demo CD I was afraid he would be mocked. Now Interpol is my favourite band – and we’re the best of friendsThis story ends at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2018. I’m standing alongside the rest of the sold-out arena, punching the dry ice, roaring along to Lights during Interpol’s sold-out show, as my youngest brother, Daniel, strides across the stage slashing at his guitar, singer Paul Banks leading the throng. “That’s why I hold you,” we all sing, “that is why I hold you dear.”But that’s not how this story begins. It starts in 1985 in Paris, where I’ve just told my mother that I will not be joining her when she emigrates to Washington DC with my two brothers, Mark, 13, and Daniel, 10. I am 16, soon to be 17. We moved from London four years ago for my father’s work, but my parents are divorcing. I’m going back to London where, I tell Mum, I will become someone who listens to music professionally. Eventually I do, working as staff on NME throughout the 90s. Continue reading...

New moon will provide ideal viewing conditions for the Piscis Austrinids, Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids meteor showers this July weekend as cosmic debris from comets enters Earth’s atmosphere, before the Perseid meteor shower peaks in August

Marine archaeologists stunned by priceless cache long hidden beneath the Bahamas’ shark-infested watersIt was a Spanish galleon laden with treasures so sumptuous that its sinking in the Bahamas in 1656 sparked repeated salvage attempts over the next 350 years. So when another expedition was launched recently, few thought that there could be anything left – but exquisite, jewel-encrusted pendants and gold chains are among spectacular finds that have now been recovered, having lain untouched on the seabed for hundreds of years.The Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas (Our Lady of Wonders) went down on the western side of the Little Bahama Bank, over 70km offshore, but the newly discovered treasures were found across a vast debris trail spanning more than 13km. Continue reading...

Beijing accused of being irresponsible after it failed to share data on where Long March 5B booster weighing more than 20 tonnes would landA Chinese booster rocket made an uncontrolled return to Earth on Saturday, US defense department officials said, as they chided Beijing for not sharing information on the potentially hazardous object’s descent.US Space Command confirmed the Long March 5B rocket re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian ocean on Saturday but referred any question regarding potential debris dispersal and impact location to China. Continue reading...

Embarrassingly, the culture secretary thinks the Midlands need sport in order to make a markI always loved those children’s books that offered a map that folded out of the cover. The Lord of the Rings set the standard, allowing you to trace Frodo’s travels through Middle-earth to the far-off lands of Mordor. It was only as an adult that I discovered that those fantasy worlds had been very much closer to home than I’d imagined.Like Tolkien, I grew up in Birmingham and it was a smile-inducing wonder to realise that many of the landmarks in the books were based on the geography of the author’s childhood – that the Shire itself was a recreation of the happiness of his infancy at Sarehole Mill; that the Old Forest where Tom Bombadil lived recalled Moseley Bog where the author had his childhood adventures (now preserved as a nature reserve by the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust); that the Towers of Gondor were said to be based on two distinctive structures in Edgbaston: the 100ft Gothic Perrott’s Folly and the Waterworks tower built by John Henry Chamberlain in 1870; and that the haunting Eye of Sauron was reportedly evoked by a memory of the grim weeks Tolkien spent recuperating at the university hospital from “trench fever” contracted in France in 1916, where the illuminated clock tower he could see through the window kept him awake. Continue reading...

A good debate isn’t about one person declaring victory, it’s about both people making a discovery, says psychologist Adam Grant• What happened when we paired up celebrities across the political spectrum?A few years ago, I had an argument with a close friend who had decided not to give his children any vaccinations. To preserve our relationship, I vowed never to talk about vaccines with him again. When Covid-19 arrived, I broke that vow. For the next nine months, we duked it out in email threads so long that we ran out of new colours for our replies. One day, he made a comment that caught me off guard. We’d argued more in the past year than we’d spoken in the preceding decade. “I don’t know about you,” he wrote, “but I love it.”He wasn’t alone. I found myself looking forward to our cognitive cage fights. Instead of pushing us apart, arguing brought us closer together. And rather than closing our minds, we both opened up. We admitted we were wrong on some points – and discovered harmony on others. Continue reading...

Getting a good shot is tricky so here are some tips to capture a picture of the Piscis Austrinids, Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids meteor showers tonight and over the weekend

Detectorists uncover 12th century horse harness pendant with England’s heraldic emblemFootball may or may not be coming home to England in Sunday’s Euros 22 final at Wembley, but a new archaeological discovery illustrates quite how long the Three Lions have been cherished in the team’s home country.A tiny medieval pendant, made from copper alloy and featuring the famous heraldic emblem, has come to light after being found late last year by metal detectorists in Wormleighton, Warwickshire. Dating from the 12th century, the pendant was designed to hang from a horse harness, its motif picked out in red enamel and gold. Continue reading...

It’s not that Britons are becoming less intelligent, it’s that the quiz canon has expanded, say top quizzersAs if everything wasn’t bad enough, now we’re all getting stupider. That, at least, was one interpretation of an interview earlier this week with the presenter of Radio 4’s long-running quiz Brain of Britain, in which he said today’s contestants were struggling more than before to get the answers right.It’s not that the questions are getting harder – the host Russell Davies and the regular question-setter Elissa Mattinson told Radio Times they were often asked by producers to simplify their submissions. But the quiz’s elusive bonus point – offered when a contestant gives five correct answers in a row – was being achieved more and more rarely, Davies said. Just when we could really do with some smart people around, it seems even the eggheads on Britain’s toughest quiz are dumbing down. Continue reading...

Consider why your brother taking it easy for a change bothers you. Be curious and don’t expect him to be more motivatedMy brother and I have a very close relationship and were fortunate to have a very happy childhood.He is the baby of the family and graduated last year. Since then he hasn’t done much at all. Not getting the result he hoped for in his degree, he said he wanted to take a bit of time to relax before looking for a job. The summer passed and we all assumed he’d start to look, but he never did. Continue reading...

My father, Donald Singer, who has died aged 67 of a cardiac arrest, was a clinical academic who worked at St George’s Hospital Medical School in London for much of his career before moving to the University of Warwick as its founding professor of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics.Donald was born in Forres, north-east of Inverness, to Isabel (nee Brown), a maths teacher, and her husband, Dennis Singer, a chemistry teacher. Part of Donald’s childhood was spent with his family in Iraq and Bahrain, where his father worked for a period as a lecturer at the technical centres of Iraq Petroleum and then Bahrain Petroleum. His secondary schooling took place back in Scotland, at Mackie Academy in Stonehaven, and then he did his medical training at the University of Aberdeen, where he met Fiona Carswell, a fellow student, in 1972. She became a languages teacher, and they married in 1978. Continue reading...

Parts of a 23-tonne piece of rocket will come crashing down – somewhere – in the next few daysIn the next few days, a 23-tonne piece of rocket will plummet to Earth at about 15,000 miles an hour. Much of it may burn up on re-entry, but a significant amount will not.It could land as one piece but more probably as many, scattered over an area up to several hundred miles across. Scientists have narrowed down the likely impact zone to within the latitudes of 41 degrees north and 41 degrees south, a region covering much of the US and South America, Africa, the Middle East, most of Asia, and all of Australia except the island of Tasmania. Continue reading...

Getting a good shot is tricky so here are some tips to capture a picture of the Piscis Austrinids, Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids meteor showers tonight and over the weekend

New moon will provide ideal viewing conditions for the Piscis Austrinids, Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids meteor showers this week as cosmic debris from comets enters Earth’s atmosphere, before the Perseid meteor shower’s peak in August

New moon will provide ideal viewing conditions for the Piscis Austrinids, Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids meteor showers this week as cosmic debris from comets enters Earth’s atmosphere, before the Perseid meteor shower’s peak in August

Team of experts from UK, US and Singapore to design jab to save thousands of lives by rewriting DNAScientists are to develop the world’s first cure for genetic heart conditions by rewriting DNA in a move hailed as a “defining moment” for cardiovascular medicine.A global team of experts from the UK, US and Singapore are joining forces to design a jab in the arm for patients to save thousands of lives after being awarded a £30m grant from the British Heart Foundation. Continue reading...

Wearable technology can scan a person’s insides for up to 48 hours as they go about their daily lifeA stick-on patch that can take an ultrasound scan of a person’s insides as they go about their daily life has been hailed as a revolution in medical imaging.The wearable patch, which is the size of a postage stamp, can image blood vessels, the digestive system and internal organs for up to 48 hours, giving doctors a more detailed picture of a patient’s health than the snapshots provided by routine scans. Continue reading...

Rebecca May and Jen Fritz on the menstrual problems that they and their friends have had after having coronavirus jabsI feel that some complexity has been lost in the studies that Viki Male cites in her article about vaccinations affecting menstruation (Does the Covid vaccine really affect your period? Here’s what our study found, 27 July). I had two AstraZeneca vaccine doses, in March and September last year. After each one, my period stopped completely for five months.For some women, it might be a pleasant experience to miss menstruation – unfortunately I, like many other women, have endometriosis and adenomyosis. The result was that my abdomen swelled for a year – from a 36in waist to a 52in one – and I was in constant pain. This has only now started to subside after four normal periods. Continue reading...

History tells us the end of a deadly outbreak isn’t just about medical data – it’s about political and social changes tooMore than two years after the World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic and more than 18 months after Covid-19 vaccinations were first widely administered, it can still seem there is little consensus on what stage of the epidemic we are now at. Is the epidemic over, with British restrictions lifted a year ago and airline travel surging? Or do soaring case rates and continued individual health measures suggest the epidemic is nowhere near its end?The trouble is that epidemics do not have the sort of neat, objective endings we may imagine. A swift and decisive endpoint, achieved through the speedy application of scientific innovation – a magic bullet treatment – is usually wishful thinking. It is unlikely we will see anything like that with Covid-19.Erica Charters is professor of the global history of medicine at the University of Oxford, where she leads a multidisciplinary project on How Epidemics End Continue reading...

Success of AlphaFold program could have huge impact on global problems such as famine and diseaseArtificial intelligence has deciphered the structure of virtually every protein known to science, paving the way for the development of new medicines or technologies to tackle global challenges such as famine or pollution.Proteins are the building blocks of life. Formed of chains of amino acids, folded up into complex shapes, their 3D structure largely determines their function. Once you know how a protein folds up, you can start to understand how it works, and how to change its behaviour. Although DNA provides the instructions for making the chain of amino acids, predicting how they interact to form a 3D shape was more tricky and, until recently, scientists had only deciphered a fraction of the 200m or so proteins known to science. Continue reading...

Monitoring sewage thought to be a quicker, more cost-effective way to understand the spread of the virusResearchers in Thailand are examining wastewater for signs of monkeypox, as part of surveillance efforts to detect the spread of the virus.Academics from Naresuan University, in Phitsanulok province, northern Thailand, began testing sewage at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport in May, adopting a technique that has also been used to track the spread of Covid-19. Continue reading...

Getting a good shot is tricky so here are some tips to capture Piscis Austrinids, Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak have clashed on a number of issues as they battle to become the next prime minister. However, as heated debates hit our television screens, the climate emergency has been alarmingly absent from discussions.Ian Sample chats to Guardian environment correspondent Fiona Harvey about which candidate is ‘least bad’ when it comes to green policies, and why one of the world’s most urgent issues has taken a back seat in the leadership contestArchive: ITV News, Daily Record, Sky News Continue reading...

Researchers say about 5% of infected adults may develop long-lasting changes to sense of smell or tasteMillions of people worldwide may have long-term smell or taste problems as a result of Covid-19, with women more likely to be affected, a study suggests.About 5% of adults infected with the coronavirus may develop long-lasting changes to their sense of smell or taste, according to the research published in the BMJ. Continue reading...

Francis Crick Institute in London says area of spike protein of Sars-CoV-2 could form basis of jab against variants and common coldScientists have made a “promising” advance towards developing a universal coronavirus vaccine to tackle Covid-19 and the common cold.Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute in London have discovered that a specific area of the spike protein of Sars-CoV-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19 – is a good target for a pan-coronavirus jab that could offer protection against all the Covid-19 variants and common colds. Continue reading...

Virus may have received a boost from rise of kissing that came with westward migrations 4,500 years agoThe herpes variants that cause modern cold sores became widespread in the wake of bronze age migrations, and may have received a boost from the practice of kissing that came with it, researchers say.Scientists in Cambridge analysed the first ancient DNA specimens of herpes simplex virus and found that one variant overtook all others about 4,500 years ago, setting the course for its dominance today. Continue reading...

Director general calls on men who have sex with men to make ‘safe choices’ amid global emergencyThe head of the World Health Organization has advised men at risk of catching monkeypox to consider reducing how many sexual partners they have “for the moment”, after the UN agency declared escalating outbreaks in multiple countries to be a global emergency.The WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said 98% of the monkeypox cases detected since the outbreaks emerged in May had been among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. He called for those at risk to take steps to protect themselves. Continue reading...

James Lovelock, the creator of the Gaia hypothesis, has died on his 103rd birthday. The climate scientist originated the theory that life on Earth is self-regulating. Lovelock often warned the global population of the stark reality of climate change and was committed to his work in his one-man laboratory in an old mill in Cornwall since the mid-1960s

The scientist was best known for his theory that the Earth is a self-regulating community of organismsJames Lovelock, the creator of the Gaia hypothesis, has died on his 103rd birthday. The climate scientist died at home on Tuesday surrounded by loved ones, his family said.Lovelock, who was one of the UK’s most respected independent scientists, had been in good health until six months ago, when he had a bad fall. Continue reading...

New moon will provide ideal viewing conditions for the Piscis Austrinids, Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids meteor showers this week as cosmic debris from comets enters Earth’s atmosphere, before the Perseids peak in August

Analysis: Fractures in the partnership have appeared before, but if Moscow exits, keeping the station in orbit would not be easyThe International Space Station, which circles the planet from 250 miles up, is often considered to be above the earthly conflicts that play out beneath. The orbiting outpost has weathered its share of political turmoil in more than two decades of hosting humans. As a symbol of post-cold war cooperation, the US-Russian partnership has been a clear success. But it has not always been a smooth ride.This week’s announcement by Yury Borisov, the new head of Roscosmos, that Russia will quit the International Space Station after 2024, is only the latest expression of the country’s discontent. In 2015, Roscosmos said it would leave the partnership in 2024, unbolt its modules, and use them to build an outpost of its own. A Russian space station remains one of the agency’s prime ambitions. Continue reading...

The results are reassuring: the changes are small and short-lived, and other studies show the jab does not affect fertility

White inflight jacket worn on mission to the moon fetches record price for a US space artefactThe jacket worn by Buzz Aldrin on his first mission to the moon has become the most valuable American space artefact ever sold at auction, fetching $2.77m (£2.3m).The article was sold by Sotheby’s in New York on Tuesday as part of the most valuable single sale of space exploration items ever staged, which achieved a total of $8.2m. Continue reading...

Greensphere Capital aims to invest up to £100m in research into some of world’s most pressing challengesThe Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew has secured a multimillion-pound investment to help commercialise its research into climate change-resistant crops, zero-carbon fertiliser and plant- and cell-based meat and dairy products.Greensphere Capital, a sustainability-focused fund, is aiming to invest up to £100m in the work carried out by Kew, a research institution and the UK’s largest botanic garden, as well as other organisations, to commercialise and scale-up study into managing risks around the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. Continue reading...

Evidence from 252m years ago shows surviving animals bounced back stronger, fitter, faster and smarterMass extinctions are not all bad news: survivors bounce back stronger, fitter, faster and smarter than before. Palaeontologists studying the most deadly mass extinction of all time – the end-Permian, 252m years ago – have shown that predators rapidly became swifter and more deadly, while prey animals adapted and found new ways to survive.Incredible fossil fish assemblages from China reveal that new hunting modes emerged earlier than previously thought, including fish with masses of teeth, adapted to crushing shells, and streamlined “lizard” fish that specialised in ambush, shooting out from murky lairs. Meanwhile, the animals that they preyed upon had to develop defences. “Some got thicker shells, or developed spines, or themselves became faster in order to help them escape,” said Feixiang Wu, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, whose findings are reported in Frontiers in Earth Science. Continue reading...

Researchers say impact of rise to 2 million cases meant it was ‘a significant part of pandemic’s legacy’Long Covid is costing the UK up to £1.5bn a year in lost earnings, researchers say, after the number of people suffering persistent symptoms of the virus doubled over the last 12 months.The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the impact of a rise in long Covid cases from 1 to 2 million showed it was likely to be “a significant part of the pandemic’s legacy”. Continue reading...

Evidence of past infection was detected in 46% of samples, compared with 17% in February

Yuri Borisov, head of Roscosmos, says Moscow will fulfil obligations to ISS partners before quitting projectRussia will pull out of the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024 and focus on building its own orbiting outpost, the country’s space chief has said, in a move that will end a symbolic two-decade orbital partnership between Moscow and the west.Yuri Borisov, the newly appointed head of the space agency Roscosmos, said during a meeting with Vladimir Putin that Russia would fulfil its obligations to its partners on the ISS before leaving the project. Continue reading...

City continues to be a hotspot for the virus, accounting for about a quarter of all of the confirmed cases in the USThere are now more than 1,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox in New York City, which continues to be a hotspot for the virus, health officials said on Monday.New York reached 1,040 cases as of Monday, said the most recent information released by the city. That accounts for about a quarter of all of the confirmed cases in the US. Continue reading...